On January 16, the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission filed this brief in the U.S. Supreme Court, in the case called Arizona State Legislature v Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission, 13-1314. Under Arizona’s constitution, the Commission is responsible for drawing U.S. House and legislative district boundaries after each census. The legislature sued the commission, arguing that the U.S. Constitution, Article One, says that only state legislatures may exercise the power to redraw the U.S. House districts. The lower court sided with the Redistricting Commission 2-1, and then the legislature appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, and the U.S. Supreme Court took the case. The oral argument will be March 2. Thanks to Rick Hasen for the link. The brief is quite interesting.

On January 22, the Virginia House Subcommittee on Elections will hold a hearing on HB 1463, which eases the vote test for a group to be a qualified party, from a vote of 10%, to a vote of 4%, for any statewide race. The hearing is at 7:30 a.m. Thanks to Bill Redpath for this news.

On January 15, the Republican Party county organizations that are suing Montana over the open primary asked the Ninth Circuit to grant injunctive relief, as to whether the party can block non-members from voting for party officers. The U.S. District Court had refused to grant such injunctive relief, saying there is no evidence in the case so far that non-members ever vote in Republican primaries for party office. The party committees argue that the case law is already clear that parties can always block non-members from voting for party officers. Therefore, the party says, there is no need for evidence on that point. In the Ninth Circuit, the case is Ravalli County Republican Central Committee v McCulloch, 15-35044.